The White House documents had to be taped back together by the National Archives staff
The Archives, in response to questions from CNN, said that “some of the Trump presidential records received by the National Archives and Records Administration included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump.”
The agency did not explain how officials know former President Donald Trump himself ripped up the records, but the Archives pointed to previous reporting that White House records management staff had to tape together torn-up documents during the Trump-era.
“These were turned over to the National Archives at the end of the Trump Administration, along with a number of torn-up records that had not been reconstructed by the White House,” the Archives said in the statement. “The Presidential Records Act requires that all records created by presidents be turned over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations.”
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the select committee declined to comment.
Committee members have said they are still in the process of poring over hundreds of pages of documents as part of the release. While they have not disclosed all of what the documents reveal, court filings have shown the documents include White House call logs, visitor logs, drafts of speeches and three handwritten notes of top advisers.
The committee has said the documents are a key part of their investigation.
“We’re glad the Supreme Court ruled in our favor that we may have access to them” Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who chairs the panel, told CNN earlier this month once the committee started receiving the documents it requested. “And we look forward to the National Archives getting them to us.”
